Imagine civilisation went back to the stone age and dinosaurs made a comeback, too, except this time they're robots with machine guns… and flamethrowers. Well, that slightly barmy premise is the setting for Horizon: Zero Dawn, and despite sounding like it's been dreamt up by an 8-year-old who's just watched The Flintstones, Jurassic Park and The Matrix back to back, it somehow works.

Horizon follows the life of Aloy, a fiery – both in terms of her personality and her luscious braided locks – warrior, who has been living in exile her entire life after being ousted by her Nora tribe. We pick up with her as she sets out to find answers. Why was she exiled? Who was her mother? And why the bleeding heck do robot monsters rule the entire world?

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While the overall story starts with an unusual premise, it can sometimes get bogged down in jargon. With terms like All-Mother and Corruption thrown around on the regular, it does take a little while to click with what everyone is actually talking about.

Horizon: Zero Dawn – sticks and stones to break some bones

Thankfully the gameplay is where Horizon really sings – or rather shoots, explodes and slices. You'll be taking on the legions of metal mammals known simply as "Machines" with an unusual arsenal of arrows, grenade-throwing slingshots and harpoon-style ropes which can trip or tie down your prey, before you plough in to deliver the killing blow with your spear.

As you might imagine, taking on mountainous mechs with sharp sticks leaves you feeling woefully underpowered. Your heavy strikes with the spear are enough to quickly dispatch the smaller enemies, but larger foes require tactics.

Oddly, your lack of heavy artillery is a great thing. The battles feel genuinely tense as huge tiger-style creatures which you first fight on their own soon confront you in packs of three or more. Plus that's before you even encounter hulking Tyrannosaurus-shaped robots (Thunderjaws) that spout fire, grenades and bullets.

Then there's the spider-like robots with vicious tails that'll cut you to ribbons, or the aptly named Deathbringer, essentially a walking tank with even more firepower. It's these deadly Machines that are the real stars of the show.

Thankfully Aloy is equipped with a Focus – think Batman's Detective Mode from the Arkham games – which helps her scan her environment and more importantly, the monsters, to ascertain their weak points and mark their patrol routes for when you opt for stealth.

Once scanned, you'll know where best to aim your flurry of arrows and all you have to worry about it actually landing those shots, which is made slightly easier by a rechargeable meter that lets you slow down time for a precious few seconds.

Horizon: Zero Dawn – override of your life

When not trying to dismantle the enemies, Aloy can choose to sneak past them through conveniently-placed long grass and employ new outfits which boost her sneaky stats to improve her camouflage. Outfits also gift other helpful boosts, such as increased resistance to the Machine's fire, melee and ranged attacks.

Our heroine can also override the Machines which wander the world, allowing her to turn them into transport (with added ramming capabilities) or simply allies to help you fight the metal masses. Thankfully you can also warp to bonfires across the landscape with some of the limited travel packs – don't worry, you can upgrade for unlimited fast travel. The fires also double as save points, which we'd suggest doing often, as you WILL die.

Aside from hunting the aluminum animals in the world, most of your time will be taken up foraging for resources to heal, upgrade weapons and level up your gear. It can be tricky stockpiling exactly the right combination of rabbit guts and giant metal crab hearts to put together your new kit, but generally you'll naturally have everything you need to get by without too much planning.

The PS4 exclusive is visually stunning, and we didn't even have the benefit of the souped-up 4K graphics you'll enjoy on the PlayStation Pro. Lighting streams through the foliage creating realistic lens flare, and the landscapes seamlessly flow from barren deserts to lush jungles and into frozen wastes.

Aloy nimbly traverses the environment like the spawn of Nathan Drake and Lara Croft by leaping, parkouring and rappelling her way down mountainscapes and towering machines. The dilapidated environments, however, which channel a similar feeling to The Last of Us' vibe of a deserted, crumbling civilisation, can sometimes be too tight to navigate.

While this isn't a major issue, the game's controls simply work best in open environments, so the camera and combat can be slightly tricky when you're pushed to fights in tight corners. Character designs are varied, with everything from wild boars and techy whatsits stitched together to create a unique looks that sits somewhere between the digital age of the past and the new tribal world.

Voice acting is as sharp as your spear and gives decent weight and emotion to the sometime convoluted dialogue. You're given three options for your responses in some conversations, split between compassionate, forceful and cunning. These have some permanent consequences, but generally in-depth conversation is entirely optional.

Verdict

Horizon: Zero Dawn is simply great fun to play – the open world and fantastic enemies make it easy to get on board with the surreal premise which Guerrilla Games has crafted. The challenging gameplay always tempts you to push past the next mountain, through new cities or delving into caves to discover new beasts, secrets and gear.

Its razor-sharp graphics will have you relentlessly hitting the PS4's share button, even if the story can't quite capture you in the same way. It's an incredible PlayStation 4 exclusive, and we suggest you carve together some arrows immediately and join the the hunt before we've made all the Machines extinct.